GROWTH-hungry communications firm Daisy Group has snapped up another rival – taking its acquisition bill past £250million in just one year.

The Nelson-based company yesterday announced the takeover of Fone Logistics Ltd for £3.6million in its latest swoop.

Bosses at Daisy, which provides telecoms services to businesses, hope Fone Logistics will improve the East Lancashire firm’s commercial relationships with big hitters O2, Vodafone and Orange.

The buy-up of Newcastle company Fone Logistics means Daisy, based on the Lomeshaye industrial estate, has access to 600 mobile phone dealers who supply small and medium-sized businesses (SME).

Daisy chief executive Matthew Riley said: “We are delighted to be able to announce this acquisition, which increases our competitive position in the mobile section of the unified communications market.

“This acquisition is also consistent with the group’s stated ambition to further consolidate the fragmented communications market and enhances our product offering to the UK SME market. We will be continuing to pursue this strategy.”

The swoop for Fone Logistics is the seventh acquisition by fast-growing Daisy since a stock market flotation last July.

Among its takeovers, worth more than £250million in total, have been the £13.5million buy-up of Eurotel and a £17million deal for Redstone Telecom.

Nick Baldwin, partner at Blackburn-based stockbrokers Hedley and Co, said Daisy’s shopping spree could be set to continue.

He said: “As long as there are companies out there to buy, Daisy could follow this strategy indefinitely. They have spotted that the business telecoms market is quite fragmented and are exploiting it. It is working well.

“However, they have got to be careful that they don’t try and take on something too big, causing them debt problems.”

Daisy, which last year employed around 200 people in Nelson, now has 350 employees at Lomeshaye and more than 1,000 nationwide.